Mr. Speaker, 15 years ago, Ukrainians overwhelmingly chose to return to the status of an independent nation. The day after its referendum, Canada and Poland became the first two countries to recognize the newly sovereign Ukraine.

Today the Canada-Ukraine Parliamentary Friendship Group is hosting a reception celebrating this monumental achievement that brought with it the rebirth of democracy in Ukraine. We will also celebrate the ties that bind Canada, Ukraine and Poland. Two million Canadians owe their heritage to Ukraine and Poland.

Since laying the foundations of democracy in those early years, people of Ukraine have surely and steadily strengthened their institutions of democracy. Canada will continue to be supportive of all people who strive to achieve freedoms that are brought about by their desire for democracy.

I wish to congratulate the people of Ukraine for their great accomplishment 15 years ago and for their continued determination to embrace their future within the world of democratic nations.

I am happy. Today the Liberal Party has a new leader and we are very proud of him.

As the leader of the NDP so eloquently said in the House, “He is a committed Canadian and a man of principle and conviction”.

I also want to say how proud we are of all the candidates who began this race for leadership. I had the honour and the opportunity to get to know them well as we travelled across this country together meeting and talking with Canadians. I was inspired by their vision and their passion, their love for this country.

Three of them are not yet members of the House. Given their drive, commitment, courage and propensity for hard work, I have no doubt that we will be welcoming Martha Hall Findlay, Bob Rae and Gerard Kennedy to the House of Commons and to a new Liberal government very soon.

Mr. Speaker, a contingent of 120 soldiers is leaving the Valcartier military base today and heading for Afghanistan on a nine-month mission under the auspices of NATO and sanctioned by the United Nations.

I would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to these courageous men and women who have not hesitated to leave their friends and family for a mission that will be dangerous at times.

These soldiers of the Royal 22nd Regiment from CFB Valcartier will join the provincial reconstruction team which, since the beginning of the mission, has been rebuilding roads, schools and community centres to help improve the lives of the Afghan people.

I have no doubt that our soldiers will make a difference in the lives of the Afghan people. On behalf of my colleagues, I wish to affirm that they have the steadfast support of the Conservative government.

Mr. Speaker, the Thérèse-De Blainville Chamber of Commerce and Industry is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. For 20 years it has been helping entrepreneurs and businesspeople in our region, providing networking opportunities and fostering community involvement.

The CCITB has 430 members and serves the municipalities of Blainville, Boisbriand, Rosemère, Sainte-Anne-des-Plaines and Sainte-Thérèse. By keeping an open mind and working long and hard, its directors have contributed to the economic and social development of a region that is growing at a dizzy pace.

Securely established in the RCM Thérèse-De Blainville, the CCITB is doing very well: it has a strong foundation, and its directors and staff are dynamic.

The members of the Bloc Québécois join me in congratulating the entire CCITB team and acknowledging how proud was are to represent them in the House of Commons.

Mr. Speaker, I take great pride today in rising to congratulate a man who has always served as a role model to my generation of Albertans, the new premier-elect of the province of Alberta, the hon. Ed Stelmach.

This past Saturday marked the successful conclusion of a hard fought campaign based on ideas, hard work, honesty and respect and the beginning of a new era in Alberta. This was a long process and I would like to congratulate the other leadership candidates for their dedication over the past months promoting and building strong conservative ideals in Alberta.

Premier-elect Stelmach ran a positive unifying campaign. He will bring his years of cabinet experience, together with strong rural roots and family values to ensure that Alberta remains a leader in Confederation and is governed by smart, sensible decisions and good old-fashioned hard work.

It is good to see that in Alberta good guys can still finish first.

By choosing premier-elect Stelmach, Albertans have made a clean and unified choice.

Mr. Speaker, an incredible team of Liberal leadership candidates gave evidence to the depth and talent of our party at this weekend's Liberal leadership convention in Montreal. The tributes also go to four other members of this caucus who put their names forward in the leadership race and who raised the bar for us all.

Our colleague, the member for St. Paul's, brought health care to the very forefront of the policy discussion. The member for Vancouver Centre gave real insight into the importance of progress on multiculturalism and human rights. The member for Don Valley West brought to the table fresh and inspiring ideas on the environment. The member for Vaughan helped lead the way with new ideas for shaping sound economic policy and an agenda for growth in Canada.

Mr. Speaker, last week Canada's new government signalled its support for sport in Canada by committing up to $400 million to assist Halifax and area in hosting the 2014 Commonwealth Games. Canada's new government is proud to support Halifax and the province of Nova Scotia in their bid to host these games.

TheMinister for Sport travelled to Halifax for the announcement. He used this opportunity to pledge an additional $738,000 to the Atlantic high performance sports strategy. This amount will be matched by the four Atlantic provincial governments resulting in a total commitment of $1.4 million.

This new strategy aims to increase the number of carded athletes from Atlantic Canada and of top eight performances at the 2008 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

These recent announcements further serve as evidence of this government's commitment to the city of Halifax and to all Atlantic Canadians, who are all very grateful.

Mr. Speaker, more than 15,000 members of the United Steelworkers Union have been on strike at Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. since October 5. Workers at three Canadian plants have walked off the job to protest unfair contract proposals made by the company and the closure of the Goodyear plant in Tyler, Texas.

Goodyear workers vow to hold out one day longer than the company to obtain a fair and equitable contract that provides reasonable job security and a fair deal for retirees. Workers say the recent financial success of Goodyear owes much to the wide-ranging concessions workers made on their 2003 contract negotiations, including 6,000 jobs that were axed across the company and pay cuts for the remaining workers.

If the company gets away with the proposal at the table, it will be bad news for all steelworkers struggling to maintain a decent standard of living in Canada. The union members are also fighting to keep employers like Goodyear from discarding North American production facilities in favour of low wage overseas operations. This issue is one that has wide-ranging implications for the whole North American economy and as such demands our attention.

It is time for the Conservative government to stand up for workers, protect Canadian manufacturing and ensure our jobs are protected for the long term from threats overseas. Canadians demand job security. We must stop exporting jobs and make sure Canadians are manufacturing here.

Mr. Speaker, it is with great pride that I rise to congratulate all of the candidates who sought the Liberal leadership at last week's convention. It was a campaign of ideas, a campaign of renewal and a campaign of hope for all Canadians. I know that my colleagues have worked hard on their campaigns and will continue to work hard for constituents and for Canada.

In particular, I would like to congratulate our party's new leader, the member for Saint-Laurent—Cartierville. He has demonstrated commitment and dedication as minister, as a candidate and now as leader. His vision for Canada will resonate from the largest city to the smallest town.

As one who has worked very closely with him, I know his energy, determination and ability to listen are what gained the trust of so many delegates at the convention and will for all Canadians.

Mr. Speaker, December 3 was International Day of Disabled Persons, as proclaimed by the United Nations. This day served as a reminder that we need to further integrate people with disabilities into our social, political and economic lives.

It also served as a reminder of the principles of equality that are far too often ignored. Although the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that everyone has the right to education and to work, many people with disabilities are denied both. This day is also an opportunity for us all to take a look at the world and to reflect on the place we reserve for people with disabilities in our society.

We must not stop striving to improve the living conditions of people with disabilities. It is a matter of justice and humanity.

I want to thank, in particular, all the agencies dedicated to helping people with disabilities, and all the volunteers who work daily for their well being.

Mr. Speaker, last week was incredible not just for the Liberal Party of Canada, but also for our country. We discussed our policy directions. We renewed our constitution. We celebrated our fine traditions and our unique history, the next chapter of which our newly elected leader will help us write.

None of this would have been possible without the thousands of delegates and volunteers.

The convention general secretary, Steven MacKinnon, and his team did a brilliant job of organizing the largest delegated convention in Canadian political history. This convention was a great success and we have them to thank for it.

Let us all salute the thousands of Canadians who met in Montreal to help build a more prosperous, just and environmentally sustainable Canada.

Mr. Speaker, this weekend Liberals returned to the scene of the crime. The names may have changed but absolutely nothing is different.

The most important event that did not happen this weekend was a simple apology to Canadians for violating their trust and stealing their money. Was that too much to ask?

It is clear Liberals do not care for political reform as they could not even get quorum during their party's reform debate.

The unelected Liberal Senate continues to stall the accountability act. It has been through this House six times. When will the member for Saint-Laurent—Cartierville tell his unelected Senate to move forward with the accountability act? More important, one wonders if the Liberal Party and its new leader have any plans to ever be accountable to the people of Canada.

For Liberals, as the old saying goes, the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the House for the first unanimous ovation I have received in 11 years in Parliament. For my first question to a Prime Minister, I feel I must talk about women's rights.

When the government is posting multi-billion dollar budget surpluses thanks to the previous Liberal government, why on earth is the Prime Minister closing 12 of the 16 Status of Women offices across Canada if it is not to cripple those who dare challenge his government's neo-conservative ideology?

Mr. Speaker, I would like to begin by congratulating the new Leader of the Opposition on his election as leader of his party, a victory that I thought was well earned. I have been a resident of Stornoway myself. I hope he enjoys Stornoway and I hope he is happy there for a very long time.

While I am on my feet, I would also like to take the opportunity, on behalf of my party and I think the whole House, to thank the member for Toronto Centre for his performance as Leader of the Opposition over the past few months. He conducted himself with great determination, dignity and intelligence and, in spite of the chant, it is far to late to enter the race now.

In terms of the question, the government is reallocating money for women's programming from bureaucracy to programming directly for women. I can assure all members of the House that when the government reallocates money, it does so to make it more effective for ordinary people, not to flow it into party coffers.

Still on the subject of rights, the Prime Minister has criticized our judges, abolished the court challenges program, confused the roles of the police and the judiciary and is now inviting the House to re-open the debate on civil marriage for no reason. Is this because his party's radical right wing dictates his agenda?

Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition raised a number of issues, including the judicial appointment process. We think that full public consultation is essential, even for judicial appointments. We have to hear what stakeholders, such as victims and the police, have to say. I realize that the Liberal Party's policy is to consult only with lawyers and criminals, but we think that the legal system should work for everyone.

Mr. Speaker, in the last election we promised Canadians a genuinely free vote on the issue in the House of Commons. My party, including the cabinet of my party, will vote freely on this issue.

I know that the new Leader of the Opposition has said he will not allow a free vote by his caucus members. I hope that proves not to be the case because I think the rights of members of Parliament are some of the most important rights we have in this country.

Let me go back to what I said earlier in French. It is essential that when we put people on the bench, we do a full public consultation. That includes people who protect Canadian citizens, like the police. They have every right to be consulted.

Mr. Speaker, we will be clear. The entire amount of $5 million will be available to organizations in every community across the country to help women directly in their communities. In fact, we know that these organizations that work on a day to day basis with women will know their needs, not a bureaucracy in Ottawa.

Diane FinleyConservativeMinister of Human Resources and Social Development

Mr. Speaker, Canadians voted this time for a responsible government, one that would spend their money wisely on direct programs for Canadians, not on programs of the past. That is why we are not cutting programs. We are providing savings by eliminating programs that were not delivering real results for the money. We are putting the money into services that do.

Mr. Speaker, first, I would like to congratulate the new leader of the Liberal Party, who won a decisive victory on the weekend after running a good campaign. Our visions differ as to the future of Quebec, but the debate will only be clearer as a result.